CASE STUDY
Remedying Talent and Term Limit Troubles for Top Pharma Company with Cella’s Custom Managed Solution
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Problem: A Managed Service Provider (MSP) agreement had Cella’s client bound to talent term limits, resulting in recurring talent recruitment challenges and slowed productivity between engagements. Compounding the problem, the client needed guidance on how to scale internal capacity to drive their marketing strategy.
The Solution: Cella developed a custom managed solution to overcome the MSP’s term limits and find the ideal brand experts the client was looking for. Next, Cella selected a team lead who ensured a seamless operational process and execution of the client’s strategic priorities, proactive team development, and clear communication between the client and the team.
The Results: Cella’s solution resulted in significant cost savings for our client — eliminating the need for costly external agencies altogether. The team has extended its reach, adding capabilities and providing creative services to internal stakeholders. Today, this team of brand experts boasts a high retention rate, and its members have advanced their careers, earning promotions within the client’s organization.
The Problem
The client’s primary concern was connected to their existing Managed Service Provider (MSP), which enforced hiring and retention term limits. Under this arrangement, contractors were brought on board, trained and integrated into the team's workflow. However, within a span of six months to two years, their contractors were required to rotate off the team. Upon completion of a term, there was a mandatory one year gap before the contractor could be reassigned to the client. Consequently, the client faced challenges on a regular basis including the loss of trained staff, productivity and institutional memory, which was occurring regularly between engagements because of the MSP’s imposed term limits.
Compounding that problem, the client’s existing team structure had been in place for years with little change to staffing and operational approach. To set up operational success, our client asked us to evaluate their processes and production quality. Next, Cella was able to objectively assess the current team’s composition, accounting for their skills, and identifying gaps and future staffing needs. We benchmarked proper compensation levels to ensure their team members’ pay scales were in line with their achievements and fair market value.
The Solution
Cella took the findings and devised a comprehensive strategy to alleviate the client’s key concerns – relief from the existing term limits and attracting the specialized talent they needed. With the client facing scarcity of suitable candidates in the local area, Cella meticulously assessed the team’s current makeup and competencies, evaluating the quality of work, skill sets and benchmarking compensation based on fair market value.
Cella proposed a plan featuring a custom managed solution that would address all their pain points, recruiting and placing specialized talent – not bound by term limits – out of our vast network of talent. We implemented an in-house agency team structure, appointing a team leader as the primary liaison between the client and the team, enabling the client to maintain control of the creative group and managing their internal projects and workflows under the new scope of work (SOW). Initially, the team comprised of six members, which quickly grew to 12, with key roles filled such as project management, production, video and social media.
By leveraging a team lead who works with the in-house team directly, the team has gone from a Tier 3 and Tier 2 production-focused group to a focus today on Tier 1 creations that are increasing in volume and value. Our internal creative operations liaison lends Cella’s pharma industry expertise to assist in evaluating the team, providing feedback and recommendations. With our guidance, the team has transitioned into a group of adept production artists and writers with deep industry insights, enriching the team’s capabilities.
The Results
For three years, the implementation of the managed service proved to be an optimal solution for our client, allowing for the removal of term limits. Throughout the process, Cella has provided valuable recommendations for enhancing the capabilities of the in-house team, resulting in increased efficiencies and cost savings – relieving our client of the expensive outsourcing hourly rate of $250 to a fraction of that cost. Cella’s comprehensive approach solidified an in-house team of experts with niche skills for our client, optimized operations, and positioned them all for sustained success and growth.
Three years later, Cella’s custom solution has created a reliable, tenured in-house team of brand experts, resulting in faster speed to market and significant cost savings for our client, eliminating the need to rely on costly external agencies altogether for Tier 1 work. Today, the team has extended their reach, providing creative services to internal stakeholders adding capabilities and services including social media, campaign metrics, performance tracking, video, animation, Veeva Vault support and more.
Conclusion
Our experts crafted a bespoke managed solution for our client to help them escape from a structure that wasn’t meeting their needs and hamstrung them with term limits. By establishing a dedicated team, Cella ensured the client had access to professionals with the necessary skills and expertise, and the internal team evolved into an in-house agency capable of efficiently delivering quality, brand-consistent work. Our creative operations expert leveraged Cella's pharmaceutical industry experience to provide the best solutions specific to this client, expanding the team’s capabilities and services for them – without engaging additional agencies. Cella identified and alleviated the client’s key concerns and set them up for limitless success.
